


The Masters of Pasio

by nd7878



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, ポケモンマスターズ | Pokemon Masters
Genre: F/F, F/M, Friendship, Gen, M/M, One Shot Collection, Personal Growth, Team Dynamics, relaxed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:42:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26312086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nd7878/pseuds/nd7878
Summary: Pasio allows many trainers from all regions and backgrounds to come together for a common goal. Unexpected teams form, unexpected people meet. Or maybe the team is exactly what everyone expected, and they're just having fun. A series of connected one-shots focusing on the different trainers on the the island of Pasio.
Kudos: 5





	The Masters of Pasio

Blue fiddled with the handle of his mug, unsure where to start for the first time in a long time. Pasio was leaps and bounds more accommodating for large pokémon than many of the major cities he'd visited, but bringing out Blastoise or Pidgeot into a cafe wouldn't… end well. They weren't tauros, but the 'tauros in a china shop' metaphor was not lost on him, even if he would feel much better with their support.

Lorelei sat across from him, eyes closed as she took a sip of tea. Her glasses fogged up for a brief moment, but by the time her cup hit the coaster and she finally looked at him, her red irises were perfectly visible. Perfectly cold.

"You wanted to speak with me?"

Blue knew she wasn't angry with him- they had barely spoken to each other since his very, very short stint as Champion- but she certainly wasn't fond of him, either. They had… well, their only encounters had ranged from 'neutral' to 'bad.' Back then, even as he throttled her team on his championship run, she scoffed at him. Lorelei had never respected him as a trainer or Champion, and that weighed heavily on his younger self.

It had been a couple years since then, and he had done a _lot_ of self-reflection. He knew his faults now, and he absolutely knew why he failed as a Champion. But knowing was only part of the battle. He needed to act.

"I'm putting together a team and I'd like you to be on it."

Lorelei raised an eyebrow, analyzing him while an especially loud group passed by their table. "I didn't believe we had that much of a connection. What about Red? Or Leaf? Weren't you travelling friends?"

Blue let his gaze drift to the side a bit and smiled. "Red and I grow more when we're adversaries. Either way, I still need to pay him back for all the 'Shortest Reigning Champion!' awards he left me with, and that'd be difficult if we were on the same team ." He chuckled. "I'll probably be asking Leaf as well, but I wanted to start with you."

"Why?"

"Well…" Blue took a moment, trying to formulate his words into something charming enough to allow him to save face. When no better alternatives came, he just spit out what he'd repeated to himself in the bathroom mirror only ten minutes before. "Because you didn't respect me just because I beat you."

* * *

**A few years ago**

Blue crashed through the first set of doors. Lance's arena was empty- the dragon-type trainer was probably already congratulating Red. It didn't matter. He just needed to get out as fast as possible.

The beginnings of tears formed in his eyes as he reached the next set of doors. He tried to hold them back, slamming his eyes shut in a vain attempt to keep his dignity until he got out of this Arceus-forsaken League.

It was only the lightest squeak of the next sliding doors that warned him of someone coming the other way. The tapping of a cane…

"Out of the way, granny!" he yelled, narrowly dodging past Agatha. She cursed after him, or she might have literally cursed him, but what could possibly be worse than having everything you've worked for stripped away mere hours after obtaining it? Cursing him now wouldn't do anything.

He had to train harder. He had to push his team Gramps, and screw Red too! Screw the bonds with his pokémon, whatever that was supposed to mean! He knew his team, and he knew they were powerful! Red's bonds weren't real, they didn't mean anything, they didn't change anything physically! Blue knew the stats, the training methods, the diets, the strategies…

"Screw this!"

Another set of doors flew by him.

Bruno wasn't in his stadium. He was probably training or something to save face. All of the Elite Four got beat twice in the same day, why did they get to keep their positions? Obviously they weren't stronger than him or Red. He should at least… be one of the Elite.

The cold hit him before the doors even opened. He almost hesitated, almost slowed his sprint, but his frustration had nowhere else to go so he burst into Lorelei's room as he had done all of the others.

She was there, leaned next to the gauntlet entrance and looking over a handful of forms. She glanced up as he entered, the same dismissive expression on her face that she had when he had beaten her. The same look she had when she'd said 'How frustrating, losing to someone who takes their team for granted…'

It was that look that froze Blue in place, his fists balled and jaw clenched. He roughly wiped his sleeve across his eyes and fixed Lorelei with a scowl.

"What are you looking at, huh?!"

"I suppose you're not the one to talk to about getting some personal leave to the Sevii Islands anymore, then?" she replied, unfazed.

He grit his teeth. "What of it?"

She shrugged, waving her papers. "Nothing. It's none of your concern now."

Over the course of his journey, Blue had become more aware of a calmer side of himself- a tactically-minded, observant version of Blue that often tried to temper his arrogance or anger. He could hear that side of himself tell him to silently walk away, to not rise to the perceived challenge… and maybe, after a fractionally less humiliating defeat, he would've done just that.

But not this time. Not after his own grandfather had warmly congratulated his rival and admonished him, especially when that same professor didn't even show up while he was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Not after Red looked down on him with pity and some sad smile on his face. Not after…

"Stop patronizing me!" he screamed at her. "I beat you easily, then went on to wipe the floor with the rest of the stupid Elite Four! This entire gym challenge was a sham, how else would I clear it in less than a year?! And you and Gramps and Red still look down on me! I proved myself! I trained harder than anyone else, I put in so much work to get here! I'm a good, powerful trainer, so why won't anybody treat me like-"

"Because you're still a brat who thinks that being powerful makes you a good trainer," Lorelei cut in, barely shifting and not raising her voice.

"I am a good-"

"No, you're not," Lorelei said icily, folding and pocketing her forms. "I did not mean to patronize you, and for that I apologize. However, I will not sit here and allow you to vent your frustrations at me just because you don't believe that I respect you enough."

Blue opened his mouth to snap back with another retort, but her glare stopped him.

"Let me clarify something: I will not show respect to anyone just because they bested me in battle. Battling on its own means nothing when I consider whose words I value. I look for genuinely good, kindhearted trainers. You are neither.

"You have strength and you understand the technical parts of training, yes. For many that takes years to master. You're miles ahead of most trainers in that regard. Congratulations. Even so, you battle like you're playing chess, where your teammates are just pawns in your greater plan. Have you tried to actually bond with them at all?"

Lorelei had crossed to him while speaking, and was now right in front of him, looking down to hold his gaze.

"That's both you and Gramps now, talking about bonds…" Blue mumbled. Lorelei effectively halted any of his anger from fanning into something more destructive. Now he just wanted to go home and curl up in bed for a year. "People keep telling me about them and saying 'Wow, Red really bonded with his team!' but never tell me what they are. How am I supposed to get stronger if no one will explain what I'm missing?"

Lorelei paused at his question, relaxing ever-so-slightly and thinking for a moment. "Tell me, Blue, have you ever stopped to consider whether your team actually wants to stay with you? Or have you just been taking that for granted? Start there and the rest should follow. And… good luck."

With that said, she nodded, stepped past him, and left to see the new Champion in the Hall of Fame.

* * *

Lorelei blinked, hummed, and took another sip of her drink. "I've seen you and Pidgeot battle. You've grown closer. With your blastoise, too."

"I took your advice," Blue responded just a bit too quickly. "You retired from the Elite Four before I became a gym leader, so you might not have seen it, but… I took your advice."

For the first time since he met her, Lorelei smiled. It was just a small smile of acknowledgement, but a smile nonetheless. "I wasn't sure if you would. When someone reaches the level of success you did practically overnight, they usually aren't very open to criticism."

"Heh. Well. I had to be knocked down a few pegs first, and I didn't exactly fall gracefully," Blue admitted, running a hand through his hair bashfully. Talking about his faults made him uncharacteristically shy. "Sorry for being a complete brat, by the way."

Lorelei shrugged. "With all the children that come through the League, we get used to it. I will say, however, that the professor had to talk Agatha out of sending a few of her ghosts after you."

"Not surprising. Gramps and I had a long talk after that, and then I had a long talk with my team." Blue took a slow sip of his own drink, remembering how that 'long talk' involved him and his team getting thoroughly swept by his grandfather's dragonite. "Blastoise and Pidgeot are here because they want to be here. They want to fight and win alongside me. But to fight, I need a team of people, as well. Are you interested?"

"I might be." Lorelei stopped, analyzing him. "Tell me. You've been rather subdued compared to when I last saw you. You're not arrogant anymore, but have you lost your confidence? Do you still have that fire?"

Blue smirked, the ice-type master's challenge finally blowing off the last bit of reluctance. "Of course I do. I'm already one of the greatest trainers to ever live, with one of the greatest teams of awesome é backing me up! I don't need to go around repeating what everyone should already know, my reputation speaks for itself."

Lorelei stifled a chuckle. "And here I had thought you'd become more humble. Well, once an Oak, always an Oak. Unfortunately, I cannot give you an answer right now."

Blue felt his confidence slip. "Oh?"

She took a painfully long sip from her mug, put it down, then flashed him a grin. "Well, I have to ask Lapras, of course. Actually… why don't you come with me? I'm sure she'll react better hearing the request directly from you."

With that, two of Pasio's masters paid for their drinks and left for the beach in comfortable silence.

* * *

**A/N:** Well. Unexpected little short story here. This is going to probably end up being a series of one-shots between different characters that just… click for me. We might revisit characters like Blue and Lorelei in the near future, we might not, it really depends on where inspiration strikes! Some of the other ideas currently bouncing around:

Rosa and Roxie

Courtney & Brennan & Norman (yeah, Courtney isn't in the game yet, but the vibe is just so good)

Zinnia and Cynthia (maybe?)

Anyways. Minor housekeeping notes because I keep seeing reviews about this: I'm going to be using capitalized pokémon names when referring to a specific pokémon as a name, and uncapitalized when referring to the whole species. Regardless of mechanical correctness, it makes sense to me and I enjoy it, so… yeah.

Thanks for reading!

Be well y'all,

Endy


End file.
